Update on my puppy: he is okay! He went in for the snip and apparently had a slight reaction to the anaesthetic so they wanted to keep him overnight under observation but all is okay and my baby is with me now! Thank you to everyone for all the well wishes for my baby, you warm my heart! x

Shout outs to RomitriandClace, cait418448, WeirdACE, Tuffin, Reemarie36!


"So Clare Bear, how was work?" her brother asked, not looking up, as she walked through the door.
"Terrible," she answered flatly, kicking off her shoes.
He glanced up and upon seeing her stained shirt, leapt off the couch.
"What the hell happened?" he demanded.
"Oh. Just a table from hell," she responded sarcastically cheerful.
He scowled.
"What did they do?" he asked.
"Oh, nothing much. Just tripped me, groped me, called me stupid, went berserk over gluten free bread, and blamed it all on ADHD," Clary spat out.
Jon's eyes darkened and he let out a low growl.
"They touched you?"
Clary looked up at him and he was furious. His face was set in a stone cold mask, his arms crossed against his chest, his biceps flexing. He looked ready to kill.
"Yeah. Stupid sixteen year olds, apparently they have 'ADHD' so their mother just lets them do whatever they want," she scoffed.
Jon's nose flared.
"I will kill them. I will personally tear off their toenails and make them eat them," he growled.
"It's okay Jon, I highly doubt I will ever see them again," Clary reassured him.
He exhaled hard and wrapped his arms around her protectively.
"I'm sorry people are such pricks, particularly my kind," he apologised.
Clary wrapped her arms around him gratefully. She loved her big brother so much, and appreciated his concern for her.
"It's okay, I can deal with a couple of horny sixteen year olds. Their mother though, ugh. She was awful," Clary sighed.
"Did they at least tip you?"
Clary's brows furrowed.
"That's where it gets weird… Jace came out after me and he said that they left of their own accord but Helen said that he made them leave and then paid the bill and gave me a hundred dollar tip, that's weird right?" she asked, looking up at Jon.
His arms tightened around her slightly.
"Jace?" he asked, the name sounding foreign.
"Yeah, the new kid."

Jon stepped back and held Clary out at arms length. He studied her carefully, which is when he realised that his little sister was growing up. Her face—which he remembered as childlike was much more like their mothers now, and her body was filling out. He began to realise that boys were now going to be finding her attractive. He hadn't even thought about her and boys because she had all but sworn them off after Raphael.
"He made them leave?" he asked.
Clary looked at him and his face was unreadable, his voice low and unsure.
"Yeah, that's what Helen said. She said that it was time for them to leave and within seconds they were gone," she explained.
"And he paid their bill?"
"All $120 worth."
"And left a tip?"
"Yeah, a hundred dollars, who does that?" she asked him.
She could see the gears turning in his head and she wondered what he was thinking.
"You said he said they left of their own accord?" he asked.
She nodded in response. Jon frowned slightly.

What the hell was 'Jace' playing at? He wondered. The name Jace was like a bad taste in his mouth. He had given in to Clary when she said she was going to Homecoming with Sebastian, he knew Seb and he was a good guy. A stand up guy, someone he believed would do the right thing by him and his sister. This Jace kid though, he had no idea about him. Didn't know him from a bar of soap and he didn't like that. It sounded like this kid was trying to make a move on his sister and that did not bode well. Jon vowed that he would find out more about this Jace person.
"Jon? Are you having an aneurysm?" Clary asked.
He looked nearly constipated, his face all screwed up and nose scrunched up.
"Huh?" he asked, focusing back on her.
"Are you okay?" she asked in concern.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay. I'm glad that Jace got rid of that table for you," he strained.
Clary nodded.
"Me too, I really hated that table. Anyway, I'm going upstairs to get rid of the eau du tomato smell," Clary laughed and Jon smiled.
"Good, I was about to suffocate," he teased.
Clary just punched him in response.
"Butt munch," she grumbled and Jon stuck his tongue out.

Jace was just closing his locker when he felt large hands turn him around and push him back into the lockers.
"What the hell, man?!" he yelled, in shock.
He saw Sebastian Verlac standing with Jonathan Morgenstern and Jordan Kyle. All guys from his year, all built from football and all trapping him.
"What exactly do you think of my sister?" Jonathan demanded.
He was clearly the instigator of this interrogation. Sebastian looked bored and Jordan looked tired while Jonathan was crystal clear and on a warpath.
"I dunno, she's nice?" he responded warily.
"'Nice'?" Jonathan asked.
Jace shrugged. What else did this guy want him to say?
"Is that why you got rid of her table?"
"Hey! I was doing her a favour! They were horrible people!" Jace defended angrily.
Jonathan's eyes narrowed as he tried to judge Jace and his character.
"Oh?"
"They were some of the worst people I've ever had the displeasure of being near. Did she tell you they assaulted her? That they kept touching her? That they tripped her to see her fall and her skirt fly up? And that the mother went bat shit insane when she asked about gluten free?" Jace demanded. "They deserved a whole lot worse than being told to leave."

Jon wanted to smile at that. Jace seemed like a good enough guy. Good enough to stand up for his sister at least. He leaned back slightly, less aggressive but Sebastian and Jordan were now more interested.
"They attacked her?" Sebastian asked.
Jace's eyes flickered over to him and then back at Jonathan, unsure if he should tell them or if he should protect Clary's privacy.
"Yeah, Clary told me they smacked her ass," Jonathan said.
"They reached up her damn skirt and freaking groped her," Jace growled, becoming angry at the thought again.
"They groped her?!"Jon demanded, his eyes momentarily going black in fury.
"Yeah, they're little self entitled assholes, and I just couldn't take it any longer so I told them to leave. I didn't want Clary being subjected to any more of that," Jace admitted cautiously.
Jon eyed him critically as he was talking and decided that he liked him. He had stood up for Clary, made sure she was still paid for her efforts and obviously cared for her. His eyes narrowed slightly at the thought. He just had to make sure he didn't care for her too much, not until he had at least passed all of his requirements.

"Thanks."
Jace's eyes widened microscopically at the sound of Jonathan's voice.
"I don't want thanks, it's not something that should be thanked. It should be natural response," Jace said warily.
Jonathan's face relaxed slightly and he smiled at him.
"I have decided you are okay. You should hang with us at lunch," Jonathan offered.
"Jon, I'm gonna go find Clary, catch you in class," Sebastian said to Jon, slapping him on the back.
"Yeah, okay man," Jon said as Sebastian walked off.
"So what do you have now?" Jonathan asked him.
Jace looked at him warily, unsure about the sudden friendliness.
"Uh, Metalworking? Why?" he asked.
"I just wondered if we had the same class, that's all. Apparently we don't so I'll catch you at lunch!" Jonathan said cheerfully and walked off.
"Well that was weird," he muttered, grabbing what he needed and walking off.

"Clary, are you okay?"
Clary turned and saw Sebastian coming up beside her and she gave him a curious smile.
"Yeah? Why wouldn't I be?" she asked him.
"Jon told me what happened at work and I just wanted to check that you were in fact, okay," Sebastian said, falling in step with her.
Clary shook her head.
"Honestly it's okay, nothing I can't handle," she said, brushing it off.
Sebastian frowned and stopped her.
"But it shouldn't have happened and I just..." he trailed off.
She looked over him and saw he was obviously distressed.
"Hey, I'm okay. Nothing really bad happened," she reassured him, resting her hand on his arm.
"I know, I just. They make me mad. What the hell makes someone think they can just… do that to you?!" he demanded.
Clary smiled and stood up on her tip toes to press a kiss to his cheek.
"Thank you for caring so much, I agree, but there's nothing that can be done about it now. All we need to do is teach the younger generation respect and personal boundaries," she said softly.
Sebastian looked down at her surprised but happy, with a smile.
"You are something, you know that, Clary Morgenstern?"
She blushed a bright red.
"Do you know what colour tie I need yet?" he asked her.
"Black and red," she informed him.
He looked down at her and smiled.
"Perfect," he murmured and then pressed his lips to her temple, leaving her speechless.
"See you at lunch, Clary," he grinned.
Her face was bright red and a smile was printed over her face and she was feeling giddy.
"'Kay, see you Seb," she said, shyly.

Down the hall Jace had seen the whole exchange and he felt his gut roil but he had no reason to feel that way. He had shoved Clary away many times, and someone as beautiful as her deserved to be with someone like Sebastian. He might be new but he knew exactly who Sebastian Verlac was. Rich, talented, athletic… not a messed up piece of crap like he was. He looked down defeatedly and frowned.
Why did he care anyway? He didn't want her near him. She was dangerous, she would destroy him. The squeezing around his heart as she kissed his cheek and he kissed hers betrayed him though and he turned away, heading in the opposite direction.
"Kaelie," he murmured, finding the platinum blonde girl.
"Jace, baby, need someone to take care of you?" she purred.
He looked at her and she smirked.
"I will take very good care of you," she murmured sensually in his ear.
She grabbed his hand and lead him to a closet before attacking him. He behaved as he should, saying and doing all the right things, but he could only think of two things. Endless green eyes and flame red hair. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to shake them, but they just kept returning.
When they were done Jace kept a hold of Kaelie, feeling almost desperate.
"Go to Homecoming with me?" he asked quietly.
Kaelie gave him a cute smile and patted his chest.
"I thought you'd never ask, baby."